My sister once had a friend who didn’t have a sense of smell. As a kid I found it fascinating that she missed out on this important sense. I thought,  She’ll never know the scent of the air after it rains or to get a whiff of mom’s homemade spaghetti sauce upon entering the front door.

But now that I’m a mother I think that kind of disability could come in handy on occassion. There are some foul smells that come out of and accompany sharing your life and your space with children.

Let’s start with babies. They start off smelling so wonderful. You want to snuggle them and enjoy Mother Nature’s perfume. They smell amazing. Unfortunately, Mother Nature plays on both sides here and there are some unpleasant smells that come out of those pretty little packages.

Then you have toddlers. These guys usually are plopped into the bath daily because of the things they get themselves into in a 10-hour day. They’re not old enough to bathe themselves so they get clean from head to toe. The threat of toddlers isn’t to their own scent—it’s to the scent of your home. They accomplish this in many ways. My personal least favorite is milk spills. They love milk and spill it everywhere. There’s nothing to compare to the scent of spilled homogenized dairy products that has gone unnoticed and dries. It’s enough to make you lose your appetite. It’s even better if it happens in the car on a hot day. It’s double the fun.

Then you have older children who have personal hygeine issues. It’s not like as mothers we encourage our children to not bathe or to cut corners in this area. I think it’s just a power struggle and a bit of a game to see how much they can get away with before they get caught. I have girls but grew up with brothers so I recognize I’m getting off easy here. However, older children and especially teenagers (before the opposite sex has become of interest) can have plenty of their own stink, which permeates beyond their smelly shoes and into rooms of your home.

Additionally, if you’re lucky enough to have a pet you can bet that they do their part to add to the funky smells that can waft into your home.

Here’s what you can do to combat some of the less-than-pleasant odors, short of baking cinnamon rolls every day to cover up the mystery scent.

1.    Clean slate. While this seems so obvious, a huge source of odor is bacteria, so if you’re not starting off with a clean body, carpet, bathroom floor, etc., then you’re merely covering up the scent instead of really trying to eliminate the problem.

2.    A breath of fresh air. Get Mother Nature back on your side and open a window to air out bedrooms, bathrooms, cars, etc. It’s amazing how much better a room will smell after an hour of air circulating through. It also promotes good health to air out the house and prevents mold and other problems.

3.    Cover it up. Once you’ve eliminated the major source of the stink you can look at ways to add a fresh scent to your home or car. For example, I love Febreze (go to their website www.febreze.com) for coupons. They have mini-bottles that fit into the glove compartment of the car, a product line just for sports gear (why does soccer have its own stench of sweat mixed with grass?), and a pet line.

4.    Dryer sheets. For a few dollars you can have months and months of portable freshness. I’ve used these sheets to line the garbage can bag in the bathroom, to freshen up the car (just hide them under the car seats), or to improve the scent of a travel bag. They put off enough of a scent without being overbearing and are undetectable when creatively tucked into the necessary places.

5.    Plug it in. There are multiple brands of plug-in products on the market that put out continuous pleasantries. I try to pick a scent that is fresh and not musky or overly floral so it doesn’t overpower a room. The downside to these products is that they don’t last long and can add up. You can go online to www.glade.com and download coupons as well as to have replacement reminders sent to your email.

Question: What’s the worst smell you’ve ever encountered in your home?